How did you come with the idea of opening the first
“philanthropub” ever?
Really it came
about as a dream to start a nonprofit.
Not a pub. The pub idea just came
as an answer to a question: “What does the community need?” There were lots of things we thought we could
do, but we realized there were already dozens of nonprofits across the city
trying to meet the needs of the community.
But they were struggling.
Finances are always the most important, and simultaneously least
important departments of any nonprofit.
Their challenge is to accomplish the mission of the npo, but they are
often hindered by the task of raising funds simply to keep going. This is where the idea of the business came
in. Why not start a business that could
raise funds and awareness for these organizations, simply by running a
successful business? Allowing the
nonprofits to focus on their mission, and we can focus on the fundraising. This is where the idea germinated from.
The Pub idea
came about because…Portland. Portland,
Oregon is “Beervana”. We have more
breweries than any other city in the world.
For us, it was simply connecting the dots.